The Department of Electronics, IT and Bt, Government of Karnataka has launched two flagship start-up programs - ELEVATE 2024 and Karnataka Accelerator Network (KAN).
Elevate 2024 is a grant-in-aid seed fund scheme designed for early-stage start-ups in the State. KAN is an acceleration network providing mentorship, market access, and funding opportunities for growth-stage start-ups across Karnataka, with a focus on regions beyond Bengaluru.
Both schemes were officially unveiled by IT Bt minister Priyank Kharge, Minister for the Departments of Electronics, IT and Bt, and Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, GoK, today.
Elevate 2024 provides grants of up to ₹50 lakh per start-up , along with support including incubation, mentorship, incentives, and access to venture capital networks. The scheme is a gateway for availing various benefits under the Karnataka Startup Policy 2022-27, such as incentive reimbursements for Patent Costs, Marketing Costs, GST, and Quality Certification Costs, Subsidised incubation with GoK supported sector specific Centers of Excellence (CoE) and TBIs across the State.
The Department encourages start-ups working in emerging technologies such as DeepTech, AI, ML, Robotics, Blockchain, 5G, IoT, SpaceTech, and CyberSecurity to apply for ELEVATE 2024. Sector-specific CoEs in these areas will provide incubation, guidance, and mentoring to selected start-ups.
Mentor accelerators
A total of 302 start-ups are likely to benefit from the program over six cohorts in three years. The mentor accelerators identified from Bengaluru are DERBI, GINSERV and Jain Launchpad, while the mentee incubators from the clusters include SJCE-STEP from Mysuru, SHINE foundation from Mangaluru and UAS from Dharwad. KDEM, is the implementation partner of KITS, Department of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka to set up KAN.
Kharge said, “Karnataka has long been a leader in fostering a vibrant startup ecosystem, both ELEVATE and KAN are specifically crafted to provide a structured pathway for growth. Bengaluru is home to 45 unicorns out of the 112 in the country, with a total valuation of $161 billion. Our goal is to break into the top three rankings in the world. We are confident that ELEVATE and KAN together will empower startups to tackle funding challenges, scale their operations, and solidify Karnataka’s reputation as a leading hub for innovation and entrepreneurship.”
He added that totally, 983 start-ups have been funded since the inception of ELEVATE in 2016 with a committed grant of ₹224.06 crore. “Karnataka is the first state in the nation to implement such a comprehensive scheme that delivers essential funding to promising start-ups,” he added.
The application window for ELEVATE 2024 will be open from October 29 to November 29, 2024.